Hello and welcome to a covid 19 special. South dakotas have a lot of questions about the coronavirus. They also have questions about the decisions being made in an effort to slow down the spread. Joining me to help answer some of those questions live, we have governor kristi noem, secretary with the south Dakota Department of health, kim malsamrysdon, and the commissioner of the Governors Office of Economic Development, steve westra. Welcome to all of you. Thank you. We are going to continue to take questions tonight. You can send those via text or email. Our phone number to send a text is 9567372. We are going to get started. We have been receiving questions for the last day and a half. All of those that we will be asking tonight have come from south dakotas except this first one. Governor, i will start with you. You shared some encouraging news with south dakota during your first conference. You spoke to the number of projected hospital beds that we thought would be needed when south dakota would hit its peak and now that looks like it has changed. Share with south dakotans what those numbers look like and what that means. Gov. Noem thank you so much for doing this. I think it will be very helpful to everyone who has tuned in and the people of south dakota to get some information on how we can get through this virus and what it is doing to our state every day for the next several weeks. Today we had a press conference and unveiled new projections for our state. If everyone remembers back on march 10 is when we announced our first cases that were impacting south dakota. We used national models, what we saw happening in other states and countries to build a projection for the state of south dakota. Using demographics, people that may be of formal age or if they vulnerable age that we knew we had living in the state, or if they had preexisting Health Conditions, we made projections for how that would look like when we hit our peak infection rate and hospitalization rate in south dakota. With no mitigation efforts whatsoever, we would need over 10,000 hospital beds at our peak. We came forward, put some social distancing guidelines in place, told people to stay home, to use good hygiene practices, to wash their hands, we said that groups could not be more than 10 and they needed to be smaller than that in south dakota and asked for businesses to be innovative in how they change their practices, take care of the customers, and also taking care of their employees and keeping them healthy. When we did that, we pushed out our peak infection date to the middle of june and we knew that from that with the agreement of our three Healthcare Systems in the state, we would need 5000 hospital beds in the state of south dakota on that date for covid19 patients. Since then, we have gotten more information, more days and experience under our belt. We know how the virus is spreading in south dakota and we are using that information in continuing to adapt those models and predict what we will see in south dakota. Today i shared with everybody that we now believe that our statewide peak will still happen in the middle of june but that we should need half of the hospital beds that we originally thought. About 2500 beds. That is really encouraging news for south dakota. That means our systems have the capacity to take care of folks that may require an elevated level of healthcare and that we will be able to flatten that curve and do that in a way that makes sure that we can deal with what is coming at us. I want to remind everybody that the science of this virus tells us that we cannot stop it, but we can take action to slow it down and make sure that if people catch the virus and become infected that we are getting than the healthcare they need to get through it. The encouraging news is that all of the work that south dakotans have done is working. It is working and i need you to stay committed to it. Im still going to prepare with sanford and monument and the other healthcare entities for that 5000 bed capacity for to over prepare and over plan. The fact that the projections and the data tells us that we will see less people needing hospitalization, that is really good news for our state and it is proof that what everybody is doing by taking personal responsibility is working. Before i get into those top questions that have come over the last 24 hours, many folks have questions about the decisions you have made so far. These are decisions that few people have had to make in our lifetimes if ever. Can you talk to me about the pressure this has put on you, your team, or other leaders across the state and the conversations you have had with them as we have made these decisions . Gov. Noem i would say i am very blessed to have great people around me. I have been on dozens of phone calls with people across this country that are making decisions. The team we have in south dakota is outstanding. Our state epidemiologist, our secretary of health, they are highly respected throughout the nation for their expertise and their knowledge. I think the people of south dakota can be reassured that we have a class a came in south dakota advising me. We have listened and worked daily with our Healthcare Systems, our professionals. Sanford health has a research arm that is helpful to us during this time. Avira has a comprehensive knowledge of how to deliver Telehealth Services and to get out on the ground and care for people not just in healthcare needs, but there Mental Health care needs which is what we are facing in south dakota as well through this virus. Monument health has an amazing ability to triage and appoint healthcare peak remote and rural areas. It has been amazing expertise to have. I rely on the people around me and come back to the foundation of using facts. I talked to people everyday that are scared, that have a lot of fear and emotion. We followed the science, what we know of the virus and the data and the facts that we see on the ground will make the best decisions for our People Living here in south dakota. I want everyone to remember that i lived here my entire life, too. I have a mom in the vulnerable population. She has diabetes. I have a son with severe asthma. I have nephews with preexisting conditions as well. I put myself in your shoes. I know when it is your family and you see how they could get very ill from this virus, i am taking extra steps to put those precautions in place to make sure we protect as many people as possible. I also know we cannot stop the virus. If we tackled this together and Work Together, that we can get through this situation and make sure we come out strong on the other side. Im going to ask the number one question that is come in so far. A lot of viewers and listeners are wanting a better explanation, they want to better understand the data in terms of making that decision regarding a government shutdown. Where will we need to be for a state shutdown . Where will we need to be to make that decision . Gov. Noem we need to look at what is happening in other states that have done that, the results they have gotten, and what is happening in south dakota. We have seen such an outstanding call to action among the people of south dakota that we actually have more people staying home than many of the other states that have put in shelterinplace orders and have put together directives to tell people they cannot leave their homes. The way people have stuffed up in south dakota and taken it seriously has been phenomenal and it has made all of the all the difference. I have not seen a data set that has told me it is necessary. It is not that i am not teachable and im not listening to people, i am. I am talking to experts that have looked at other countries and constantly doing research on what are the best negation measures and what is really working. I want to remind everybody that i also consider the fact that whatever i put into place today, you have to sustain. I cannot put a shelterinplace for just two or three days or even 10 days. It may be something that would have to stay in place until we reach our peak infection date. I am always asking myself how long can i expect people to stay in their homes and still listen to the advice that we are giving them. If i tell you to go in your homes and not come out for three weeks and it is not at the right time or it is not appropriate and three weeks from now i say, we need you to stay for another three and nobody listens and everybody comes out and a size they cannot do it anymore and then we had huge infection rates all at one time and it overwhelms our healthcare system, that was not an effective approach. I am always looking at what is happening in other states. Are there fact that tell me it is necessary and it does not has been an appropriate move for south dakota. Governor, if we get to that point do you feel it should be universal across the state or because the way we are laid out geographically, is it that every community would be different . Gov. Noem i think it is very different across the state of south dakota. I cannot imagine a circumstance where i would think it is appropriate statewide. We are very different than the big populated cities that you see on tv. We are spread out. There is a lot more open space in south dakota. Even though new york city is not like lemon, south dakota. Sioux falls isnt like faith, either. We need targeted approaches of things that actually work for that community and what reflects that communitys needs. That is the viewpoint i am looking at. Every single county, city, and township in this state. I want to move to the secretary. Lets bring our viewers and listeners uptodate on the latest positive cases in south dakota. Secretary, even our recovery numbers are just as important. What can you tell us . As of today we have 1168 positive cases in the state. Many of those associated with the smithfield outbreak. I know we will probably be talking about that later as well, but it is important to keep in mind that people recover from covid. It is important to keep in mind that people do recover from covid. 80 of people that contract covid will have mild symptoms or maybe even no symptoms whatsoever. People do get better. We have over 330 people that have recovered. That is the good news. We have also seen a relatively low rate of hospitalization and that is also good news and that is what is helping to contribute toward the new numbers that the governor announced today. Covid can be very serious for some people. The majority of people do get better, they can stay at home, they can do the right thing to not infect other people and that is going to be key to us getting through this. Secretary, we have had questions come in about taking care of themselves and the best advice now that those numbers it is the message we have been giving since the beginning, and that is wash her hands. Wash your hands often. In my family, we are joking to if our hands are not chapped, we are not washing our hands enough. You Committee Contacts with a lot of different things. Keep your environment clean. Wipe down things you touch a lot in your house, your car. Common sense things like that can go a long way. The number one thing people can do is maintain social distancing. That means staying away from other people, keeping good distance between you and others. We know that this virus spreads primarily through respiratory droplets from person to person. That comes from things like sneezes or coughs. If you do have to sneeze or cough, use a tissue. Really, staying away from people is the number one thing we can do. I think it is one thing to say stay away from people. Is another thing to do that in your everyday life. I would challenge people to think about what you do over the course of a week and let us see the we can do to reduce number of times you come in contact with other people by another 25 . When you go to the gas station, pay at the pump. Do not go into the store and come into contact with another person. Limit the times you have to go Grocery Shopping during the course of a week. And see ifharmacy they can mail your prescriptions to you and save yourself a trip. Just very practical things i think we can do. They might be inconvenient for us at this time, but over time, reducing our contacts of others will help the transmission of this disease. First and foremost, that is what i would say. If you have symptoms, do not go to your clinic or to the emergency room. Please call ahead. Providers are going to walk you through what is going on with you. They will give you advice on what you can do. We are seeing a surge in video visits and telehealth. Staying out of those clinic. Ettings is important if you do need to be tested, your provider will help you understand what you need to do to get that testing. Please call ahead if you have symptoms. Biggest message there minimize your contact with other people, practice good social distancing, wash her hands often, clean your environment. There is a recommendation from the cdc to wear masks. That would be another thing people can do to help reduce the spread. I wouldnt courage people to go st. Gov. Secretary, real qic. It is about the care 19 act. App thathe voluntary will help individuals track their whereabouts. Common people to we have so far that are utilizing this app, and are we finding it helpful . I can speak to that one. We developed this app with the help of the north dakota governor and some contacts he has. It is an app specifically designed for folks on their iphone. It will be ready for an android by the end of this week. They can download, and it will start tracking where they have gone, so if they do test positive for covid19, we have that Historical Data to utilize to protect other people to stop the spread. For. App is extremely help north dakota is the first eight to use it. We have about 12,000 people using it today, but i need every single south dakota and to download this at. It is called care 19 in your app store. , voluntary. F charge it is anonymous, and all of the information will be destroyed. When somebody test positive, our department of health staff do contact tracing. They call it that individual, and say where have you been . Who have you talked to . What places have you been walking by and try to contact every Single Person that they potentially exposed to the virus while they were in the days previous to testing positive. That takes time. Those individuals that get exposed to the virus, they called them and visit with them and see where they have been and where they have traveled or people they have been exposed to as well. It takes hours. If somebody would just download this app, turn on their location services, that would allow us to immediately have that information and utilize it to key people home and isolated when they could be contagious and help stop the spread and slow it down in those areas. That is why it would be so helpful if every person in the state of south dakota that has the capability would download that app and turn on location services. It would make a world of difference for saving us time. It would help us being proactive in identifying people immediately and isolating them. In the future, we are hoping to build out a feature where it can send you a notification on if somebody does test positive that you were previously in contact with that it would let you know. I would encourage everybody to download the care 19 app and utilize it during the next several weeks. The information that is part of the care 19 app is totally anonymous. When you sign up, you are given a number that you maintain. If you fall into the situation where you test positive in the future, it is up to you to give that number so that we have the information that is in the app. People do control that. It is anonymous, and it is safe to use. I have a question from a viewer that came in, and the viewer, her name is michelle, and this question says, what measures do you have in place to support the reservations and have significant numbers of Vulnerable People in our state . That is a i think great question. We are having regular phone calls with tribal leaders and Health Care Experts in our reservation areas to make sure that they have equipment, howlies and have a plan for they are going to address covid19. Deployed and been working with ihs, a Health Care Provider that has presence out there on the reservations. They have been sent some id tests equipment and supplies, so that will help us to Rapid Testing, and then making sure we have the ability to get those folks who could be at elevated levels of health care they need to be. That communication has been happening on a weekly and more often basis than that when they have questions and follow up and preparing for that population should need some assistance and we should have an outbreak in those areas that we immediately get them the help and partnership that they require. We are going to switch gears here. We are going to talk about smithfield foods. I also want to talk about Clinical Trials, and we have commissioner west wrote thus as we talk about help for Small Businesses. To come toim going you next. When we look at smithfield foods, what do we know in terms of the number of employees that have tested positive . How many are hospitalized, and that theren reports has been one death so far of one of these smithfield employees. What can you tell us . Are 518 today, there employees of smithfield that have tested positive. About 126 close contacts have tested positive is well. The number of hospitalized has varied, but we have seen probably a handful of people hospitalized from that particular population. We do not have a confirmed death yet of anybody in the smithfield population, and we will report, keep those numbers updated as we go along. Cdc isnow that the planning on visiting, and from what i understand, it is tomorrow. What is their mission in terms of visiting . Asked the cdc to come in and help provide Technical Assistance to a team that includes the state health department, the city of sioux falls, and that includes smithfield. They have brought in a team of experts who have experiences from all different kinds of outbreaks in areas, including at places that deal with animal health. They will start tomorrow morning with a tour of the facility. They will look at the operation, they call it from truck to truck. That is from the time trucks bring in animals to the time product is leaving the facility. They will look at every single process involved with that, look at the workspace, look at the ways people can be